Update: The Tufts Climate Action group says the sit-in protest has ended.

Students at Tufts University are currently staging a sit-in protest at the school president’s office, urging the university to divest from fossil-fuel companies. After negotiations with school officials broke down, students say officials have threatened disciplinary action — and have blocked deliveries of food.

The protest, organized by a campus group called Tufts Climate Action, is calling for Tufts to sell off all its investments in fossil fuel companies over a five-year period.

“We’ve been here since 8 a.m. on Wednesday morning,” said Emma Youcha, a freshman taking part in the sit-in. Youcha said Tufts President Anthony Monaco dismissed her group’s concerns and would not allow the students to present their arguments to the full board of trustees.

The students say they are staging the sit-in to make their voices heard. But university officials called in campus security, who have constructed a fence to prevent students from communicating through a window. And when janitors came to bring a shipment of pizzas to the students, security blocked the delivery.

So far, students say they are subsisting on snacks and a loaf of bread they brought with them initially. Youcha says they will eventually be forced to leave once they run out of food.

Photo: Emma Youcha

We depend on the support of readers like you to help keep our nonprofit newsroom strong and independent. Join Us